


The Earring

by yunhaiiro



Series: DA Shared Universe [8]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 15:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4227861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yunhaiiro/pseuds/yunhaiiro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Not a token of affection, then?"<br/>"I- look, just- just take it. It's meant a lot to me, but so have- so has what you've done."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Earring

Kwerkus tries to walk past Alistair looking inconspicuous and, for once in his life, fails.

Alistair stares.

“What are you wearing?”

Kwerkus’ hand goes immediately to his ear, as if trying to hide the earring, but then realizes what he’s doing and puts his hand down, still acting nonchalant.

“What do you mean?”

Alistair arches an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean. When did that earring come from?”

The hand goes up again.

“Morrigan helped me pierce it.”

“That’s… not what I asked.”

Kwerkus sighs.

“Zevran gave it to me.”

“Really? When, I didn’t- Wait. Was that what you were talking about in the dungeon? When that archer was using me as target practice?”

Alistair is not really that mad, but whatever anger he could feel dissipates at how sheepish Kwerkus looks.

“I’m sorry.”

Alistair waves a hand dismissively and then crosses his arms and looks at him, questioning.

“Then, does that… mean anything?”

Kwerkus looks down, worrying the earring with a finger.

“I don’t know.”

Alistair cocks his head.

“You don’t…”

“He wouldn’t say. I didn’t press the issue.”

Typical. Why make anything simple.

He scratches his head awkwardly and wonders why he even cares. Meanwhile, Kwerkus is looking off into the distance, foot tapping on the ground increasingly fast.

“Well, good luck with that,” Alistair finishes lamely, and watches as Kwerkus practically bolts away.

 

* * *

 

 

Kwerkus spends much of his time after that up in some tree, and when he’s not he regrets it because everyone is staring at him and it’s starting to creep him out.

Well, everyone except for Zevran, who is, actually, not even talking to him. At all.

Someone should crown him as the King of Mixed Messages.

Right now, he’s high up in a beech, his back against the trunk, and a little bird is jumping lazily from branch to branch above him. It’s almost dusk and everything has a still calmness to it.

Then he hears armored boots trampling through the forest.

It’s Malia, of course. No one else really seems to bother to come get him when he goes to climb up trees.

“I’m up here,” he calls after her when she’s almost past him.

She backtracks, stops at the foot of the beech and looks up, squinting.

“I’m going to have to take your word for it, because I can’t really see you from here.”

 Kwerkus closes his eyes but doesn’t move. He doesn’t have the energy for a heart-to-heart at this precise moment.

“What is it?”

“Dinner’s ready.”

His stomach voices its agreement with the news.

“… I’ll come down. You can go back ahead, it’s gonna take a while.”

“I can wait.”

There’s no way to get out of this, then.

He climbs down, as slowly as he dares. Jumps when there’s still a bit to go.

When both his feet are on the ground, he looks up and sees that Malia seems as worried as he expected.

He takes a breath and raises a hand when Malia opens her mouth to speak.

“I know I have to talk to him.”

“And you’re trying to find him in tree’s tops?”

“… I hope I never have to find him in a tree top again. He can’t climb down.”

Malia snorts, but keeps the worried face. Kwerkus looks away.

“I know, okay? And I will. Just… give me- well, us, some time.”

Malia shrugs and starts walking back to camp.

“Guess I’m not one to deny you that.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Zevran?”

The assassin looks up from the dagger he was sharpening to find a very nervous, _very_ twitchy Kwerkus standing in front of him.

“Can we talk?”

“I don’t suppose this is going to be a fun talk.”

Kwerkus is practically jumping from foot to foot at this point.

“We should talk all the same.”

Zevran bites his lip and turns his head, but finally sheathes the dagger and drops the sharpening stone in a pouch.

“Was this,” and Kwerkus points to the earring that’s been hanging from his ear for the last week, “… something? Anything?”

“Just a gift.”

“You said it had been important to you.”

“And that remains true.”

Kwerkus looks ready to strangle him.

“You can be very obtuse when you want to, did you know that?”

Zevran smiles. But it’s a sad smile.

“You’re not a paragon of transparency either, my dear.”

Kwerkus takes a step forward, getting into Zevran’s personal space, but at the same time recoils just a bit and wounds his arms around himself.

“You want honesty?”

Zevran doesn’t answer, just watches him.

“Alright,” Kwerkus takes a breath, and starts talking really fast, “I was happy when you gave me the earring, because I thought we were actually getting somewhere, even if you didn’t actually come out and say it, but then you start avoiding me and frankly it’s come to the point that I thought _you_ were having second thoughts about this and the next thing you would say to me would be to give the earring back even though I had already picked up a gift in exchange and in fact had been saving it for some time because I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU BLOODY IDIOT!”

By this point he has taken Zevran by his leather straps and is shaking him while shouting at him. Everyone at camp has turned to look at them, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

Neither does Zevran, in fact, because he’s too busy blinking owlishly. When Kwerkus stops, seemingly to take another breath and keep going, he manages out:

“You… are?”

Kwerkus just grits his teeth and shakes him harder as an answer.

Zevran takes advantage of the momentum and pulls him into a kiss.

When they part Kwerkus rests his forehead on Zevran’s and his eyes actually look a little misty. Mostly he just looks angry, though.

Zevran is smiling an actual smile now.

“I love you, too.”

“I hate you.”

And he does a little headbutt, but not enough to cause any harm.

“Did I hear you say you had a gift for me?”

Kwerkus sighs, lets go and takes a step back, then goes down on one knee.

Leliana gasps, Malia whistles, the rest also make their reaction known because yes, they were still watching the whole scene.

Zevran arches an eyebrow.

“I thought you didn’t like public-“

Kwerkus raises a hand to silence him.

“That will be later. For now…”

He reaches into a pouch and takes out a silver ring.

He can hear Leliana flailing and Alistair swearing because he just got hit by said flailing.

Zevran’s mouth is hanging open.

“Is that a…?”

“Dalish promise ring. Don’t ask where I found it, but it’s the real deal. Enchanted by a Keeper and everything.”

“How long have you had that?”

“Embarrassingly long. Don’t ask either. Just take it.”

He offers it to Zevran and he picks it up, rolling it in his palm to look at the carvings. Kwerkus gets up.

“As I understand, Chantry doesn’t really do marriages like us…”

“Did you actually ask in one?”

Kwerkus smirks.

“Yeah, they didn’t take it well.”

Zevran’s shakes his head in disbelief, but also in amusement.

“… but Keepers are not so picky. So, when all this is over, if we’re both alive and we somehow haven’t gotten tired of each other…”

“Are you proposing to me, completely serious?”

“Wasn’t that obvious? From going down on one knee? I had to ask about that too, by the way, we don’t really do that.”

“JUST SAY YES!” Leliana shouts.

Zevran chuckles and Kwerkus turns to stare at her, but it doesn’t diminish her enthusiasm. He turns back to face Zevran.

“So.”

“Yes.”

Leliana and Malia both squeal, Alistair lets out a snort that screams “About time”. Wynne is looking ahead and nodding approvingly and even Morrigan is secretly smiling.

Shale doesn’t care.

 

 


End file.
